Brazil Legalises Bitcoin, Coinbase To Delist XRP, Ex-FTX CEO Gets Summons From Commission

Brazilian lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill to approve Bitcoin as a payment mode for goods and services. The draft law recognises Bitcoin as a digital representation of value for payments and investments in the South American country.

The bill would become law after President Jair Bolsonaro’s assent.

Coinbase’s To Delists Several Tokens

Coinbase is expected to delist Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), Ethereum Classic (ETC), and Stellar Lumen (XLM) tokens from its platform.

The crypto exchange cited low usage behind its decision. Coinbase said its wallet will stop supporting these tokens from January 2023.

However, users can still transfer funds to other wallets using Coinbase wallet’s recovery mode 

Scammer Pleads Guilty of Crypto Mining Fraud

Chester “Chet” Stojanovich, a New Yorker, has pled guilty to scamming over a dozen people of $2 million in a long-running crypto mining scheme. Although he was arrested and charged with wire fraud by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in April, it was reported only recently.

Between March 2019 and September 2021, Stojanovich posed as a crypto mining equipment dealer, enticing consumers to purchase the machines. He also received payments on the pretext of arranging hosting services in Goose Bay, Canada. However, the equipment sale and hosting facility were simply used as bait to lure his victims.

Huobi Token Gains after Airdrop Announcement

Huobi Global’s HT token saw major price gains on Tuesday after the crypto exchange announced to airdrop “a new digital token” of the Caribbean state of Dominica.

The “Dominica currency” or DMC will be distributed on Huobi Prime, the exchange’s exclusive token issuing platform, Huobi said. The HT token was up 41.70 per cent over the last seven days and 3.03 per cent to $7 in the last 24 hours.

Sam Bankman Served Summon Notice

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been summoned by the Texas Securities Commission on February 2 as part of a probe into his possible law violations.

As per a notice issued by Joe Rotunda, the director of enforcement for the Texas State Securities Board (SSB ), and delivered to Bankman Fried on November 29, the regulator alleged that FTX US sold unregistered securities to Texas residents through its “EARN” accounts.